Gender equality plans and institutional change: pathways for substantial and sustainable outcomes
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2025-01-09
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Universidad de Deusto
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In recent decades, the structural change approach has become central to addressing gender inequality in European Research and Innovation (R&I) policies. Through FP7 and Horizon 2020, the European Commission funded Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) in Research Performing and Funding Organisations. More recently, under Horizon Europe (2021-2027), GEPs have become mandatory for institutions seeking funding. Despite these efforts, progress in achieving gender equality remains uneven and slow, as noted in reports such as She Figures 2021 and scholarly analyses.
This thesis explores barriers and opportunities to progress by analysing institutional change as a process, examining whether there is a shared understanding of the goal among stakeholders, identifying facilitators and barriers to GEP implementation, and evaluating factors affecting the sustainability of institutional changes in the long haul. Grounded in gender studies, organisational studies, and political science theories, particularly Feminist Institutionalism (FI), it explores the interplay of formal and informal rules, structure and agency dynamics, and the role of power, resistance, and strategic actions in institutional transformation.
The research centres on the GEARING-Roles project, a Horizon 2020-funded initiative implementing GEPs in six European academic institutions, and includes additional data from other FP7 and Horizon 2020 GEP-implementing projects. Using documentary analysis, semi-structured interviews, and participant observation, findings show institutional change as a complex, non-linear process shaped by interconnected factors such as organisational culture, stakeholder engagement, and broader contextual elements. Key barriers to the effective implementation of GEPs include inconsistent interpretations of institutional change among stakeholders, subtle resistance rooted in institutional norms, and persistent gendered hierarchies. In turn, success is found to rely on the alignment of structural, agency, processual, and transversal factors, as well as multi-level support from institutional, national, and European governance.
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Materias
Ciencia Política
Sociología política
Conflictos sociales
Sociología
Grupos Sociales
Posición social de la mujer
Sociología política
Conflictos sociales
Sociología
Grupos Sociales
Posición social de la mujer